This invention relates to a method and associated apparatus for transferring the weight of a plurality of weight bearing articulated members from a first supporting point to a second supporting point and more particularly to a method and passive orthosis apparatus for rehabilitating patients suffering from muscle weakness.
A vast number of people are affected by conditions that result in profound muscle weakness or impaired motor control. People with severe muscle weakness from neurological injury, such as hemiparesis from stroke, often have substantial movement limitations. One of the aims of rehabilitation after stroke is to improve the walking function. However, equipment available to facilitate this is severely limited.
Several lower extremity rehabilitation machines have been developed recently to help retrain gait during walking. Lokomat® is an actively powered exoskeleton, designed for patients with spinal cord injury. The patients use this machine while walking on a treadmill. Mechanized Gait Trainer® (MGT) is a single degree of freedom powered machine that drives the leg to move in a prescribed gait pattern. The machine consists of a foot plate connected to a crank and rocker system. The device simulates the phases of gait, supports the subjects according to their abilities, and controls the center of mass in the vertical and horizontal directions.
Auto-Ambulator® is a rehabilitation machine for assisting individuals, with stroke and spinal cord injuries, in leg motion impairments. This machine is designed to replicate the pattern of normal gait.
A limiting feature of these machines is that they move patients through predetermined movement patterns rather than allowing them to move under their own control. The failure to allow patients to experience and practice appropriate movement prevents necessary changes in the nervous system to promote relearning of typical patterns.
There is, therefore, still a need for a rehabilitation device that simulates the phases of gait, provides passive assistance, support a patient according to his/her abilities and allows the patient to move using muscle power.